The right wheels for your bike are the ones you want to put on it.

Yeah, he could have been farther along the spectrum than most of us. I wouldn't know what is supposed to be original on any given bike unless I looked up the catalog online or something. Folks who have encyclopedic knowledge of esoteric subjects like this (right off the top of their heads) tend to be different and not especially strong in the social graces. Still, it's pretty cool that he knew

Not trying to make things worse. Golden boy and Wiley one are on a roll tonight. But you comment totally reminded me of this. No one will probably get it though.

22 years ago, I was sitting with my Grandfather on his deathbed, he was a proud respectful man who never cussed/swore and always took stuff in his stride, was polite to others, more so when they were trying to get a rise out of him, this I never understood, so I asked why he never let these people get under his skin . . .his reply stunned me and it was passed down to him by his father back in the 1940's and it was;
In this life never, never let anyone else's Sh-- become your own!
I did not know what to say, I had never heard him swear in his life, but more so this statement resonated (<Possible spelling mistake) with me so much that I never forgot it.
Your bike, your choice, no one else's business.
Be prepared as you will get comments like that on here too. You know more than I that this **** is everywhere.
I live my bike life via my signature at the bottom of this post, your enjoyment is not decided by anyone else.

We also had a guy come through the shop I used to work at, pulls out his bike from the back of his car and dumps it on the ground throws the front wheel on top, goes off to park his car, comes back picks up his bike brings it inside the gate, dumps it down again, I walk over concerned and am about to ask if the bikes alright, he says "It's just a bike ok!?" Fills out the paperwork asking for a full service and walks off, I walk up to get the bike and realise it is a brand new Cervelo running full Dura Ace retailing at the time for $10,000.
Next guy to pull up pulls out of the back of his car a Centurion Le Mans running Shimano 600, puts it down gently then, takes a lot of care putting the front wheel on, carefully picks up the bike and wheels it in, puts it in the "To do" rack and walks in to fill out the paperwork, then says "Please be careful not to scratch my bike, my gears need adjusting" he turns and walks out pausing looking at his bike and turns to ask "You will be careful aye?" to which I reply "I sure will" he says "I realise it is nothing special but I love that bike" and then leaves.

reminds me of getting dragged thru the dirt by a cpl guys I used to work for, "those tires are slowing you down" "you should get a real helmet" "why don't you get real bike shoes"

sometimes you need a kick in the pants & sometimes, you don't. still haven't gotten real bike shoes, but the other things, yup

Mortal Kombat?

Nice [MENTION=447897]johnnyace[/MENTION] yup. "Flawless victory" and "finish him". And so many cool sound bites still in my head from that game. I would say the original is also Classic and Vintage in the video game world.

[MENTION=319824]Bicycle Addict[/MENTION], both of your replies above are just spot on to my way of thinking. Not much could be added to what your late Grandfather said on his deathbed, absolute gold there.

The second reply, I believe I know both of these guys. Plenty of the first kind around, always amazed me how some folks are so detached from what something is worth and the proper care it warrants. The second man is someone I identify with completely. I never was able to afford top-of-the-line, for anything at all. But what I do have is valued and is important to me. Because of how much my bikes have given me in terms of quality of life, they are something treasure regardless of other's perceived value. Asking that a mechanic respect this, in the proper way your gentleman did, is understandable. He probably doesn't let the cognoscenti get to him with their air of superiority, but he does ask that people respect his values. Thanks for posting your two replies, for me they rang true in a special manner. Just a few might agree with me about these things, this is fine with me, its just not a reason for me to compromise my personal feelings about this topic.

Bill

[MENTION=110545]qcpmsame[/MENTION], Thanks.
For me, my bikes are nothing special, like really nothing special, I buy them cheap and dead, rusted and rebuild the rebuildable and part out the not rebuildable, it is a past time I very much enjoy, getting dirty as hell but having a satisfaction that I do not find elsewhere.
For people bikes mean different things, I like beaters and am more inclined to flip the mint or sort after bikes in favour of buying a bunch of beaters and having a lot more to muck around on, here I am pretty much alone, and that I am fine with.

I used to play a lot of Mortal Kombat with my older boys (now 32 and 30) back in the Sega Genesis days.

or even better, tossed a stick in the wheels after he was riding, ruin the wheels and possibly send the OP to the ER ... one step closer to "problem solved".

Shouldn't you be out stressing an aluminum frame to it's modulus of elasticity?

Take three giant steps backward.....I know that we all get hot and bothered by great bikes, but from a more normal perspective they are just bikes. To get excited about them requires that one travel pretty far down the path of obsessive compulsive behavior...That is toward the lunatic fringe. It's perfectly understandable that where we are with this subject that one would encounter fruits and nuts. Write it off and carry on...

[MENTION=319824]Bicycle Addict[/MENTION], and [MENTION=110545]qcpmsame[/MENTION], I like you guys. Thank you for being here.

+1. They call it "negging" in today's parlance.

I think that a lot of us would have noticed French wheels on a Masi, but most of us wouldn't have said anything.

Thank you Tom, that is very kind of you to say. Fortunately, the C&V bunch is a pretty good group to hang around, just the occasional disagreement, but thankfully nothing like the General Cycling Forum, or the Road Forum also.

Bill

If you want to experience real or should I say more intense snobbery on a larger scale, Corvette's. NCRS judging and all the rest that goes along with it produces guys with major sticks up their butt. Any serious hobby has its share of snobbery it's just human nature. Though we don't like to admit it, there is a need in EVERYONE despite what they might say to be better than the next guy. More knowledgeable, better skills and my favorite more accomplished. It's my opinion as distasteful as that might be it's what keep us going as human beings. There is an unstated competition in everything in life and I think that's a good thing as long as it doesn't get out of hand. Social shaming, the flip side of the same coin, plays a big part in what keeps our society running smoothly. Clearly the lack of traditional social shaming is why we are where we are today. It's a free for all of bad manners and lack of taking personal responsibility.

Aww shucks Tom, stop it you'll make me blush!

In all seriousness though C&V is a good place to be.

Insecurity, coupled with a lack of consideration for others, is an unpleasant combination.

Like many of us, the guy is insecure: He makes himself feel better about himself by finding ways to show his "superior knowledge." He is in a constant competition with others, comparing himself to them and finding some meaningless way to feel like he is the winner.

I find myself doing this when I am stressed by events in my life. I imagine that many here share this affliction. But most of us recognize this as a weakness and have the courtesy to keep our mouths shut.
Brent

Same here and I agree..

I don't see any insecurity in the posts by mtnbke; far from it. I see frustration, which I share, at the Internet-spawned deification of steel frames in the face of the demonstrable superiority of aluminum frames in many areas of bike use.

In particular, it clearly drives him nuts that many tall riders and heavy riders are under still the impression that they're better served by steel frames than aluminum frames.

Sorry; his knowledge is superior, at least in his area of expertise, which is that of bike use (especially in loaded touring) by big riders (he's something like 6'6" tall and weighs close to 400 lb, he says).

At 5'8.5" and 125 lb, steel versus aluminum isn't a crucial issue for me. But, after 5 decades of racing and training on pro-level steel bikes (still have a Reynolds 531 bike and a Reynolds 853 bike sitting around collecting dust), I now ride aluminum bikes exclusively. One of the aluminum bikes is 30 years old, with many tens of thousands of miles of use.

Sure, if you aren't very tall or very big or you don't ride hard, the advantages of aluminum might not mean much to you. But the advantages are real.

Sure, but I don't think C&V is a logical choice of pulpit necessarily. That's why there's disagreement and arguments. It's like going to a vintage car show and recommending to everyone to go electric, do an electric conversion, a modern engine swap, etc. That behavior to that audience begs the question if you're really making recommendations to enrich peoples' lives, or are you just looking to stir the pot and get into an argument because that's your thing?

Lots of commentary can be both empirically correct, and totally out of place. The modern incarnation of Sherlock Holmes is the perfect stereotype of being entirely correct and an equally insufferable brat. Tell your wife what you really think of that whatever she just loves, should be fun. Remember how correct you are, never back down, please post your results =)

You're not riding, collecting, or restoring all things C&V because it makes perfect sense.

RENNGRRL APPROVED.jpg

I have no prob with aluminum, not sure it got a fair shake as things in the 80s-90s progressed quickly. It is light and fast. New Treks and other bikes have rubber in the headset and seatpost to dampen the carbon bikes. Or something to that effect.. Would be cool to add that on aluminum. I ride my Klein often and fairly fast. I can tell when I put too much air in the tires and back it off if it's uncomfortable.